Ex-judge backs call for court cameras
LEGAL: Retired High Court Judge Peter Collier QC believes allowing television cameras to broadcast judge’s sentencing remarks from crown courts has the potential to be “instructive and informative”.
Draft legislation on The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 has been laid down in Parliament.
THE FORMER Recorder of Leeds and retired High Court Judge Peter Collier QC believes allowing television cameras to broadcast judge’s sentencing remarks from crown courts has the potential to be “instructive and informative”.
Draft legislation on The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 has been laid down in Parliament and will now be considered by MPs and Peers. If granted it would permit High Court and Senior Circuit judges to be filmed as they hand out sentences in criminal cases.
Former Recorder of Leeds Mr Collier was involved in the pilot of the scheme in 2016 where his sentencing remarks were recorded on a not-for-broadcast basis.
“Personally I think it is a good thing as it is giving more people more information about how and why judges reach particular sentences and this has the potential to be both instructive and informative,” Mr Collier said.
“If this is successful, filming will only take place in courts where High Court judges are sitting and in the North-East that can only happen in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Leeds and Sheffield.”
Mr Collier also spoke of the importance of trusted media covering cases in the interest of transparency and justice.
“We are very fortunate we have
who have qualified journalists covering Crown
Court day by day – it is quite a rarity these days for local newspapers to have a dedicated court reporter, but it is in the interests of justice to have fair and representable court reports from the media,” he said.
The Yorkshire Post’s Editor James Mitchinson echoed Mr Collier’s comments and described the latest development as a “welcome first step in restoring access to the process of law and order for ordinary people”, but stated it still doesn’t go “nearly far enough”.
Mr Mitchinson said: “The closure of magistrates’ courts – and the subsequent consolidation into ‘super courts’ in large towns and cities – has made it impossible for the majority of victims to see their perpetrators dealt with by those charged with protecting our communities.
“That self-same withdrawal of access comes at a time when local and regional newspapers – the medium people actually trust – have been shrinking and closing at a record rate, owing in no small part to the proliferation of digital giants such as Facebook and Google who have tempted large numbers of advertisers away from trusted local media.
“The net effect of these circumstances is that justice is invisible; people feel isolated and without protection from criminals which in turn makes them feel more vulnerable. If we are to restore community confidence more needs to be done to improve all of our ability to see justice being done in every court in the land.”